News & Views takes a look at the stories of interest in Baton Rouge during the past week (Oct. 21-25) and offers views on what the stories really meant.

Playing the name game

The news: Word that University of Louisiana-Lafayette (UL-Lafayette) athletic officials were pressuring ESPN to refer to its sports teams as the "University of Louisiana," "Louisiana" or "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns," reignited the always simmering debate of how the university wishes to be known versus the institution's actual name. What once was a name-game flap between LSU -- which believes that any other institution using the stand-alone "Louisiana" name muddies its flagship status -- and the then-University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) has evolved during the past decade to include the University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM). The former Northeast Louisiana University got dragged into the dispute when lawmakers required more than one school to adopt the "University of Louisiana" name, meaning NLU became ULM. School officials in Monroe, happy with ULM, register their objection whenever UL-Lafayette tries, in its view, to corner the "Louisiana" market. UL-Lafayette spokespeople say this has nothing to do with the academic side of the university, but is merely a sports branding matter.

The views: This is a "naming" issue that will not go away. Never has one institution worked so hard during the past 20 or so years to be called something other than its name. Remember the hysteria and conspiracy theories that broke out when Kathleen Blanco became governor and a cadre of former UL-Lafayette officials joined her administration? Even worse, most thought, was the presence of Blanco's husband, Raymond, a key Ragin' Cajun powerbroker. Despite fears that LSU's power and prestige would be reduced to the benefit of UL-Lafayette, nothing of the sort materialized. The sense here is that while the academic side would love nothing more than to be known as the University of Louisiana, this particular spat has more to do with a perceived benefit to recruiting athletes to the school.

Can't anyone in politics get along?

The news: Three local government meetings in the Capital Region this week, and three Al-Haig-like disputes over who's in charge. In Baton Rouge, the back-and-forth between Metro Council member Ryan Heck and the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) took a nasty turn when members of the media were sent an email exchange between Heck and several HPC members riddled with allegations and insults from both sides. This comes after Heck, who believes the group shows favoritism and improperly meets in private, proposed a one-year moratorium on the preservation commission's ability to first approve any changes a Historic District landowner wants to make to his property. Also this week, the ongoing friction between the Port Allen City Council and Mayor Demetric "Deedy" Slaughter sparked when the council adopted an amended version of the 2013-14 budget that the mayor says she intends to veto. A day later, on the other side of East Baton Rouge Parish, the Livingston Parish Council voted Thursday (Oct. 24) to publish a request for qualifications for the engineering work on the parish's long-delayed road overlay program. This action came after two months of fighting between the council and Parish President Layton Ricks, who said he has already selected a firm for the job. In both Port Allen and in Livingston Parish, these spats were merely that latest in the ongoing battles between the respective legislative and administrative branches of local government.

The views: The discord in our nation's capital may monopolize the headlines, but the rancor taking place in the Capital Region is equally as heated, and in some cases even nastier. The battleground in Washington, D.C., is over political ideology, but closer to home it's simply about power -- and who has the authority to exercise it. The Metro Council is currently embroiled in squabbles with the library board, the CATS board and the HPC. In Livingston Parish, the council and the parish president have been fighting since the Mike Grimmer administration, with the only thing changing is that voters decided to throw out Grimmer while electing a council that's anti-the-new-guy, who happens to be Ricks. As for Port Allen, what's happening there is a complete mess, as Slaughter does her best to turn public service into a lucrative full-time job. As is usually the case when arguments are destined to wind up in court, the only winners will be the lawyers.

Baton Rouge's bus bench battle

The news: The Metro Council, realizing it has created a political monster, defers until Dec. 11 an ongoing discussion about which companies should be allowed to provide bus benches in the parish. National Concrete Industries has had an exclusive contract to install bus benches at various locations, including actual bus stops, across the parish for the past 30 years, but the council recently decided to allow two other companies to join the fray. Some members are now concerned that some of the newly minted contracts are too vague, and others wonder why three companies are needed to provide benches, especially since all sides vow to place benches only at bus stops.

The views: This is what happens when the council fails, which is too often the case, to look beyond what's immediately in front of them. Let's face it: These companies are in business to plaster advertising on the backs of these benches, competing at ground level against Lamar Outdoor Advertising's plethora of elevated billboards in the parish. Here's a suggestion: Put every CATS bus stop up for bid and see how much approved companies are willing to pay the city-parish for a five-year, exclusive-rights contract to each respective bus stop. The council might be surprised to find out how much a company is willing to pay to get access to the more attractive bus stops. This bid system works when it comes to awarding beach-stand contracts along the white sands of Ocean City, Md., so why not on the flat asphalt of Baton Rouge? One word of caution: Wait until CATS decides which bus stops will actually remain before tackling this problem. Seriously, it's shocking how much trouble this council causes for itself.

Empty seats disguised as Tiger fans

The news: The LSU Board of Supervisors delays, until Dec. 6, a vote on a proposal to increase football and baseball ticket prices. Athletic Director Joe Alleva wants to increase some Traditional Fund payments for season ticket holders beginning next season, and implement a flexible pricing plan to base face-value ticket prices on the quality of the opponent. He also wants to increase the donation required for season baseball tickets and up the price on parking passes for the 2015 season.

The views: Many were quick to suggest that the request for a delay is tied to the football team's disappointing performance in a loss at Ole Miss. No doubt, it's always better to ask fans to dig deeper into their wallets when they're happy, but the delay has more to do with several board members not having a full grasp of all the details. That said, the bigger problem facing Alleva is the growing number of empty seats in Tiger Stadium. Against Florida, in a top-20 matchup, only 78,000 fans attended the game, never a good thing but even more troubling considering Death Valley is in the middle of an expansion project that will increase seating capacity to more than 100,000. Without question, nothing is as special as a Saturday night (or mid-afternoon) in Tiger Stadium, but what's equally clear is that more and more ticket-holding fans are deciding it's simply easier to stay home and enjoy the game on their big screen, high-definition televisions with surround sound. Why that is, and what can be done about it should be addressed before Alleva does what he can to keep up with the Alabamas of the world in the never-ending facilities and recruiting race that is big-time college football. Yes, there's still a long waiting list for season tickets, but, the last time I checked, empty seats don't buy programs, hotdogs, cokes and over-priced jerseys on game day.

What's $2 million between friends?

The news: Gov. Bobby Jindal announces plans for the state to spend nearly $2 million in taxpayer money to renovate part of an old elementary school building to house the archives of former Gov. Mike Foster in Foster's hometown of Franklin. Jindal, who began his career in state government with the Foster administration, said the "building will serve as a place to celebrate the incredible work of Gov. Foster and educate generations of our people about the monumental reforms he implemented."

The views: One must wonder if this is the best use of $1.8 million from the state construction budget, considering the deplorable condition of many state and university facilities? Jindal owes taxpayers an answer as to why this ode to his old boss is a higher priority then, say, crumbling buildings on LSU's campus, as NOLA.com | Times-Picayune columnist Bob Mann noted? Moreover, while cuts to support services for the elderly or those with disabilities comes from a different pot of government money, it still sends a bad message when money can be found to fund an ego project, but not to maintain services for those in real need. People should keep this $2 million gift in mind the next time Jindal or anyone else in state government talks about a shortage of taxpayer cash.

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This opinion piece is written by JR Ball, the managing editor in Baton Rouge. He can be reached at jrball@nola.com